Rage of Acnologia
by Lady SVI
Summary: /GraLu/ A magical world where humans, gods, and demons coexisted and overcame their differences to seal Acnologia. Ten thousand years later, they must do it again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello lovelies! So this story has been kind of in the works for a short while, and basically, based on y'alls thoughts of this prologue, I may consider going full out with this story. It'll take a while. Got a bunch of scattered thoughts in my head, but I did manage to get this prologue down.**

 **IMPORTANT: Before we start, I would like to note that a name with an * at the end will be in an appendix at the end of the Chapter. Some characters in this story are mythological beings such as gods/goddesses or monsters or other supernatural beings that I think you all would appreciate to know and may not know who they are. Additionally, I assigned each country in Earthland of Fairy Tail to have a different religion or gods that they believe in. Thought it would make this story more interesting.**

 **Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what y'all think!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. If I did, GraLu would've been a thing.**

* * *

 **• Rage of Acnologia •**

 **Prologue**

* * *

" _It's the children the world almost breaks who grow up to save it."_

* * *

Screams of anguish bounced off the temple walls, reverberating into the bones of the priestesses. The elderly High Priestess wiped the sickly woman's face before placing a fresh cold, wet towel on her forehead. A man, by the woman's side, gripped her hand in comfort. The woman in labor panted, squeezing her eyes shut as another contraction hit.

"Your little one wants to meet you, Layla," the High Priestess, Nova, encouraged gently. "You need to keep pushing."

"Come on, Layla," the man squeezed her hand. "Just a little more."

"This body…is too weak, Baraqiel," she sobbed.

Her screams once again filled the night air as she pushed.

"That's it, Layla," Baraqiel soothed. "Just hang in there."

A young priestess ran in, pale and sweaty. "High Priestess, the city is burning!"

Nova stood up abruptly. "What?!"

"The…" the young priestess panted. "The demons!"

"Satan?" Nova asked.

"No," another man answered, seeming to manifest from the shadows of the temple. "This is not Satan's doing."

"Kokabiel?" Baraqiel's brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, brother," he greeted.

Nova unsheathed a golden knife from her sleeves. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't slit your throat right where you stand, traitor."

Kokabiel gave an amused smile. "I'm a fallen angel of the stars just like my good old brother over there. I'm forever a servant of the heavenly bodies."

"So what?" Nova spat. "You showed your allegiance long ago. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to buy time."

Layla forced herself up on her elbows, catching eyes with the fallen angel. She gave him a weak smile. "Good…to see you…again, Kokabiel."

A soft smile graced his lips. "You never lost faith in me, did you?"

"Never."

At that response, Nova reluctantly withdrew her golden blade. She kneeled back beside Layla's side and replaced the cloth on her forehead again. The High Priestess glared back up at Kokabiel.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" She snapped. "Buy us time!"

"Good to see you again as always, Nova." The fallen angel disappeared into the night sky.

"All right, Layla. Again," Nova urged.

Another anguished scream filled the air.

"That great! I'm starting to see the head!"

Layla pushed again and again and again. She looked up to the night sky, the stars twinkling. The open ceiling allowed the moon to shine down on her, and she could see the clouds of smoke and bits of ash hanging in the sky. That's when she should smell the burning of flesh. She felt her eyes roll to the back of her head.

"Shit!" Baraqiel cursed.

Nova snapped her fingers repeatedly until another priestess finally handed her some herbs and a candle. She lit the herb on fire and wafted the scent under Layla's nose. The woman jolted awake, gasping and coughing.

"Layla! Layla!" Baraqiel shouted. "You need to stay awake or the baby won't make it either!"

She squeezed his hand wordlessly and gave another couple of long, hard pushes with the last ounce of her energy. She collapsed back into the pillows, breathless. There was a short silence before it was replaced with the cry of a newborn.

A young priestess washed the babe of blood and wrapped the little one in a warm blanket. She handed the babe to the High Priestess, but not without showing the back of the right hand of the babe. Nova paled, shakily rubbing the inked VII on the infant's hand.

"Layla," she whispered brokenly. "It's a beautiful baby girl."

Her eyes fluttered, fighting to stay open. "Let…Let me…hold…her, pl-please."

Nova gently placed the babe in her arms. Layla's eyes welled with tears, gently brushing the babe's forehead and weakly humming to calm her down.

"Lucy..." Layla choked on her words. "My little…Lucy. I'm…sorry mommy…has…to leave you."

"Layla, there's not much time," Baraqiel said sadly.

"When…when the w-world…falls down a-around you…and hope is…lost, when you find…find y-yourself alone amid…a light-lightless place, look…to the distance. Know…that I am there, always," Layla whispered with her final breath, falling limp, tears cascading down her pale cheeks.

The saddening silence was disrupted by the crescendo of demonic roars that had Nova and the priestesses urgently stand up.

"Baraqiel, you need to get the child out of here!" Nova yelled. She summoned her golden staff with a heavenly light, and her trusty golden blade was already in hand. "If Mard Geer is behind this, then when they see the mark, they will kill the child!"

The other priestesses followed suit in arming themselves as a last defense for the child.

"And where the hell would she be safe?!" Baraqiel growled. "She's a child of the prophecy! She'll be hunted down!"

Nova slammed her staff the ground, a golden wave of light bursting and throwing the incoming demons back. "Fiore! She'll be safest there! Find High Priestess Nysa! Tell her I sent you! She should be in the Holy Capital of Despina in the mountains by the Cloud Sea north of Oak Town!"

"And you?!"

"Don't worry about me! Now get out of here!"

Baraqiel took one last look at Nova before gritting his teeth. He unfurled his obsidian wings and flew through the opening in the ceiling of the temple into the night sky, not once daring to look back at the burning city.

* * *

"The Era of Peace is ending, Makarov."

The Fiore king warily glanced at the fairy. Her expression was blank, her eyes were blank, and her ethereal form shimmered in the moonlight. The ghostly appearance of his former mentor unnerved him, for it was unusual but not exactly uncommon for spirits to roam among the living.

He sighed. "It ended long ago, Mavis."

"Maybe," she hummed.

Makarov grunted. "What did you see?"

"The end of days in storm and fire."

The old king of Fiore felt the aged lines sink deeper into his face. "Mavis, it's been ten thousand years..."

The fairy spirit was grim. "The Great Prophecy has started."

Makarov choked on his spit. "I thought that prophecy was a myth!"

"I wish that were the case but the Apocalypse Dragon will soon reign the skies once again."

In all his years of living, the Apocalypse Dragon, Acnologia, was something Makarov thought he'd only hear from myths and tales. He's dealt with orks and roguish demons as well as government corruption and conspiracy. But a dragon...a dragon was a different story. Most dragonfolk, with the exception of the royal line, were wiped out eons ago in the Dragon Civil War, but the legend of Acnologia was one to be feared. He felt a slight tremor wrack through his body.

"The fate of humanity is lost," Makarov rasped out.

"The Great Prophecy was created for a reason," Mavis stated calmly. "The fate of humanity rests in their hands."

"We must find them!"

"They will come when the time is right."

"What do we do then, First?"

"We hope."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Welp, there's the prologue. Anyway, penny for your thoughts! Have a lovely day :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again lovelies! Based on all y'all thoughts! I've decided to keep going with this story! Besides, I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Please enjoy and let me know what y'all think! Also, if you have any questions or concerns, just PM me!**

 **IMPORTANT: I would like to note that a name with an * at the end will be in an appendix at the end of the Chapter. Some characters in this story are mythological beings such as gods/goddesses or monsters or other supernatural beings that I think you all would appreciate to know and may not know who they are. Additionally, I assigned each country in Earthland of Fairy Tail to have a different religion or gods that they believe in. Thought it would make this story more interesting.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. If I did, GraLu would've been a thing.**

* * *

 **• Rage of Acnologia •**

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

" _It's the children the world almost breaks who grow up to save it."_

* * *

21 Years Later

.

.

.

Lucy hummed as she swept the steps of the temple leading to the great pantheon behind her. It wasn't her favorite part of the job as a priestess, but she didn't complain. It was a beautiful day in Despina, and she was taking advantage of it. The Holy Capital of Fiore was nestled on the cliffs with a beautiful view of the bright turquoise Cloud Sea, and with the goddess of heavenly bodies being one of the three most beloved in the country, the temple was one of the highest points in the city along with the temples of the sun and the moon.

The young priestess sighed in relief as she finally reached the bottom of the staircase. She grinned at her handiwork, the steps seeming to gleam in the sun. Childish laughter and screams of excitement snapped her gaze to three children covered in mud. Her eyes squinted, identifying them as her three favorite little rascals from the orphanage: Sibel, Nikita, and Lance. She was about to shout and wave hello when a ball of mud sailed past her head and splattered onto the staircase.

Lucy eyes widened in horror. "I must be dreaming."

She turned back around and was met with a ball of mud smackdab in the face. It was then Lucy concluded that she was, in fact, not dreaming much to her dismay. She slowly wiped the cold mud off with a slight frown on her face.

"Uh oh…" Sibel whispered.

"Whoopsie…" Nikita laughed nervously.

"Abort! Abort!" Lance shrieked.

"Seriously, guys?" Lucy sighed, hand on her hip. "I just finished cleaning."

"Sorry, big sis!" they chorused together.

"My, my," a new voice appeared. "What happened here?"

Lucy turned to see none other than Nysa, the current High Priestess of the temple. Nysa was middle-aged and dressed in the beautiful, traditional garbs of a high priestess with a golden headdress of stars. Her hair was of the lush green forest and eyes of the warm earth. Lucy slightly bowed her head in formality, a big smile on her face. Nysa was like a mother to her, raising her since she could remember. She taught her the duties and responsibilities of a priestess, the myths and legends of the old gods and new, and the beauty of life and the night sky.

"High Priestess," Lucy greeted. "Was just finishing up. Guess I missed a spot."

"You sure did," Nysa laughed. "Go wash and change yourself, Lucy. You've been cleaning since first light."

"But–"

"Lucy, this was your day off," Nysa interjected. "It was Karen's job this morning. Why do you do her duties?"

"Because she never will."

It was true. If there was one thing she didn't understand, it was Karen Lillica. She was a so-called priestess that constantly shirked work, charging a high price when a civilian asked for a fortune from the stars, and always gave everyone a hard time, especially her. Lucy didn't understand what she did to her, but all she knew was Karen's hair was green like the envy that radiated from her body. She was confused, but Nysa probably saw something or hoped there was something in Karen that Lucy couldn't see.

Nysa sighed. "She'll be cleaning up this mess. Don't worry about it." She ruffled the hair of the children. "Take these three with you down to the city. I'm having you run some errands. The name day of the Star Maiden is somewhat ahead, but we must begin to prepare."

Lucy nodded. "Yes, High Priestess." She turned to Sibel, Nikita, and Lance. "All right, let's go wash up guys."

"But I hate baths," Nikita whined.

Lance rolled his eyes. "That's because you're afraid of water."

"No I'm not!

"Yes you are!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Sibel rolled her eyes. "Guys, stop fighting already. We need to help big sis!"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Oh boy…" Lucy sweatdropped, knowing this was going to be a long day.

* * *

The center of Despina was the hustle and bustle of the markets with merchants from all over Earth Land. Lucy closed her eyes, smelling the mixed scents of herbs and spices. She rarely traveled outside the Holy Capital of Despina because of her duty as a priestess, so the market gave her a touch of the outside world, and she often fantasized herself in other countries and continents.

They headed toward the baked goods area, and she watched as Sibel, Nikita, and Lance talked to each other excitedly and made funny gesticulations with their arms, eyes bright and smiles wide. She couldn't help but smile too.

Lucy fondly remembered catching the three of them stealing food from the Star Maiden's statue years ago. It was a place where civilians made offerings and prayed. She had followed them to the edge of town and stumbled upon an orphanage only to find out that the food they stole was for a dying young dog they had found in the middle of the road left to die. Ever since then, she told them if they ever needed anything they should just come up to Asteria's pantheon and ask for her. They were hesitant at first, but she connected with them fairly quick when she mentioned she didn't know her parents and grew up without them, hence becoming the aforementioned "big sis."

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the three rascals' stomachs growl. Sibel blushed cutely like any other eight-year-old while Lance and Nikita grumbled to each other for skipping breakfast that morning.

The young priestess sighed and stopped at a fruit stand.

"Morning, Priestess Lucy! What can I do for you?"

"Good morning!" Lucy greeted back to the lady. "These three little riots haven't had anything to eat yet. I was wondering if I could have three fresh apples please."

"Of course!" She smiled. "No need to pay. It's on the house!"

Lucy eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, are you sure? I have the money."

She handed her the apples. "It's alright really. With how much the priestesses do, this doesn't even extend all the thanks you should receive. Have a good day, Priestess Lucy."

"Thank you again," Lucy bowed her head in gratitude. "What do you say, guys?" She pointedly looked at Nikita, Lance, and Sibel.

They bowed their heads. "Thank you very much for the food!"

Lucy waved as the four of them headed off deeper into the center of the market. She handed them the fresh apples, their quick breakfast for the late morning until she'd drop them back off at the orphanage for lunch.

"Here you go."

"Oh, this is so good," Lance burped.

"Ew, Lance!" Sibel scrunched her nose.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"So, big sis, how can we help?" Nikita asked, having scarfed down his apple to the core.

Lucy smiled. "Just stick together and stay in sight, okay?"

"Okay, where are we heading?" Sibel asked.

"There's a flea market today, so the things I need will be a lot cheaper, or I can at least bargain a nice price," Lucy answered.

"Will there be more food?" Lance asked hopefully.

Lucy laughed. "There will be more food."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he exclaimed. "Race you guys there!"

"Keep dreaming!" Nikita shouted.

The two boy ran off before either Lucy or Sibel could blink.

"What did I say about sticking together?!" Lucy called after them. "Oh, geez…" Her eyebrow twitched when she heard some of the townspeople yell after them.

Sibel giggled. "Sorry, big sis. They can't help it."

"I don't know why I was expecting them to listen," Lucy chuckled, shaking her head. "Everything seems to go through one ear and out the other."

"Hopefully they don't get too lost," Sibel said.

Lucy lips settled into a thin line. "I'm praying to the gods they don't accidentally let the cattle loose this time."

"Uncle Baraqiel wasn't happy when he had to explain that to High Priestess Nysa," Sibel laughed. "He barely kept himself together! Remember the look on the High Priestess' face, too?"

"I remember that like it was just yesterday," Lucy recalled.

"Speaking of which," Sibel wondered. "How is Uncle Baraqiel? We haven't seen him in a while."

Lucy stopped walking altogether and glanced at the sea of blue above her. The last time she saw her uncle was about three months ago and that worried her. He was always able to visit about once a month for a few good short days before he continued his travels. While he wasn't necessarily her biological uncle per say, Baraqiel was close to her heart. He was there just like Nysa was. He taught her the constellations, told beautiful tales of the zodiacs, tragic stories of fallen heros, and his adventures across the world.

"I don't know," Lucy finally answered.

There was also the fact that Baraqiel was a demon, and most of the world didn't take kindly to demons. Fiore was a rare exception, but it was all thanks to the current ruler, King Makarov, and his predecessors that banned prejudice and discrimination against demons and other supernatural creatures. It was a good thing that Baraqiel mostly looked human but that was mostly due to the fact that he was a fallen angel. Hopefully he wasn't in any kind of trouble.

"Well, I hope he visits soon!" Sibel smiled. "He always has the best stories to tell!"

Lucy smiled back. "Yeah, I hope so too."

* * *

The orphanage on the edge of Despina was a fairly new start up despite that the building was old and rickety. Yukino, a good friend of hers and a fellow priestess, helped spearhead the program four years ago to make sure young homeless children would be able to have a roof over their heads and food to eat. The main lady in charge was an old, sweet lady by the name of Linda, who never had any children of her own.

A bark stopped all four of them before they even stepped foot on orphanage grounds. Before she knew it, the pup the three rascals saved all those years ago bounded up to them jumping around and wagging her tail in excitement.

"Kaya!" Sibel laughed as the dog licked her. "Yeah, yeah, I love you too!"

Nikita scratched her behind the ears. "Good to see you too, girl!"

Lance laughed. "We weren't gone that long, Kaya!"

A silver-haired girl ran up and stopped, panting as she bent over her knees. "Geez, Kaya, don't run off like that again! You scared me!"

"Yukino!" Lucy greeted with a wave.

The fellow priestess smiled and waved back. "I see you brought back the Three Musketeers, which now explains why Kaya ran off." Yukino smiled. "Linda was hoping you'd keep them."

Lucy rolled her eyes while the three riots pouted. "Ha, very funny."

"I hope they didn't cause you any sort of trouble today," Yukino said.

"No, not really," Lucy smiled, giving the three orphans a small wink.

"We helped big sis today," Sibel proudly stated.

"Yeah, Asteria's name day is coming up!" Nikita added.

"She also got us some apples!" Lance grinned.

"Seems like you guys had a busy morning," Yukino observed. "Well, why don't you come inside? Lunch is being served."

Sibel, Nikita, and Lance ran off excitedly with Kaya not too far behind. Lucy watched them go with a laugh. Whenever those three heard the word food, they were always off and running in the blink of an eye.

"They're growing up fast," Yukino commented.

Lucy giggled. "Yeah, I can still remember their tiny hands trying to steal all those years ago."

"Will you have lunch with us?"

"I would love to, but I have to bring these items that I just bought back to the pantheon to start preparing for Asteria's name day," Lucy politely declined. "Next time?"

"For sure," Yukino nodded. "Would you need any help carrying all those?"

"Don't worry, I got it."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. Tell those little riots thank you for me. I never got the chance."

"Of course."

Lucy bid farewell and was back on her way to the pantheon. The road was one often taken by travelers, so she was surprised by the emptiness of it and was even more surprised when she came across a small child younger than her favorite orphans. He was standing in the middle of the road; however, he didn't look lost, so Lucy couldn't help but feel a little hesitant because she had heard stories of bandits using their own children to lure good-hearted travelers into an ambush. So, naturally, her hand calmly rested on the hilt of her golden blade resting at her hip as she decided to approach.

"Hello, little one," she greeted carefully. "Are you looking for someone?"

The small golden-hair boy turned around and faced her. Lucy's breath hitched when she saw the little boy's eyes. She was sucked into a world of celestial bodies and infinite power. This boy's ancient eyes glittered with the power of the cosmos. It was then when Lucy knew that this little boy before her was actually a god.

Her hand ghosting over her blade faltered before settling to her side in a tight fist. The child god smiled at her, as if enjoying her current state of discomfort. His sharp, powerful eyes regarded her keenly before he finally spoke with a voice resonating from the very sun and depths of the universe.

 _"Seven shall answer the call,_

 _To storm of fire, the world will fall,_

 _An oath to fight with a final breath,_

 _And bear arms against the Dragon of Death."_

Lucy swallowed thickly, her throat suddenly dry as those words shook her down to the very core of her being and rattled her bones. She opened her mouth to speak but her words died because when she blinked, the god was gone. Dizziness crept into her vision and before she knew it, Lucy's eyesight shimmered into blackness, and she felt the items she bought today slip from her hands.

As a priestess of Asteria, who was the goddess of the stars and nocturnal prophecy, Lucy was used to seeing visions during the hours of the night and with the power of the constellations. However, the communication of these forced visions came directly from a god and from the god of prophecy himself, Apollo, who mainly derived his power from the sun.

The power of the forced images had Lucy nauseous. The rapid flash of colors and white noise blended themselves into a coherent montage of images and voices of what she supposed was the future.

 _The large black wolf snarled, bearing his teeth as she tentatively approached with small, careful steps._

 _"I'm guessing you've never seen a dragon before?"_

 _Her long white hair fell over her shoulders, starkly contrasting against her black clothing as she gently laid the white lilies over a grave._

 _"Welcome to Magic and Mayhem. How may I help you?"_

 _A freshly scarlet-stained katana gleamed in the moonlight. "Careful Priestess, this city is a godless place. You shouldn't be here."_

 _Her vision swam as she saw a blue-haired elf pointing an arrow in her face. "Who are you?"_

Lucy came to and stumbled a few steps, trying to catch her breath, but the last three words of the vision echoed in the back of her mind like an incantation. The back of her right hand burned, causing her to hiss in pain and cradle it to her chest. She looked down to see the back of her hand glowing with an upside down, white hot VII before settling into regular black ink. Her breathing faltered and before she knew it, Lucy passed out in the middle of the road.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, there's the next chapter. Anyway, penny for your thoughts! Have a lovely day :)**


End file.
